


old habits die hard

by Zerrat



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Betrayal, F/F, Mind Games, Revenge, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-06 16:35:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3141314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sivir should have known better than to allow herself to be caught up in Cassiopeia's games. Her history with the woman is as tangled as it is violent, but no matter what she does, she can't help but find herself drawn back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	old habits die hard

**Author's Note:**

> Started at the beginning of August 2014, so this fic operates based on the old lore for both Sivir and Cassiopeia, as much as I loved the updates! So Sivir was a mercenary for Noxus, and Cassiopeia was turned by a barbarian's cursed blade.

Sivir should have known _better_. That was what first flashed to mind amidst shock and anger, when her gaze finally fell upon the elusive employer that had provided so many lucrative contracts. She should have seen the signs. 

She should have known that a serpent was coiled all throughout that promise of gold.

Cassiopeia did not look shocked to find that Sivir had finally forced her way past guards, stand-ins and pretenses to barge in on her private quarters. No, she actually looked as though she'd been _expecting_ Sivir. But then, Cassiopeia had always loved to hold the cards, even if she had to be bluffing. The woman was coiled up on rich carpets and plush pillows, her body languid and draped back against a couch in a way that stirred too many of Sivir's old memories.

For all the ways Cassiopeia had changed since those days, that sly, seductive curve of her lips had not. Sivir wanted nothing more than to break that smile and send her ex-lover careening right into the wall. She'd long since turned her back on being a Noxian plaything, and given the last time she'd seen Cassiopeia - still human, back in Shurima - she could hardly be blamed for being furious.

"Sivir, what a... pleasant surprise," Cassiopeia said finally, her voice low and disdainful. She tilted her head back, her smile widening a fraction, openly enjoying Sivir's rage. 

That was always what Cassiopeia wanted. A _reaction_. Sivir refused to play along any further, so with an effort that felt nigh inhuman, she leashed her anger and smiled back. 

"Surprise?" she asked. Cassiopeia's games had held little substance when confronted directly. "As if I'd believe that of you." 

"Perhaps it matters little what you believe." Cassiopeia's smile didn't flicker. She offered a careless shrug, at ease, as though she didn't have an armed and furious Shurima warrior a hair's breadth from showing her _exactly_ why it should matter. 

Sivir's anger deepened, and she cursed herself for her complacency. Perhaps she'd assumed too much of Cassiopeia - it appeared the little sneak had become a good deal braver in the years since they'd last seen one another. 

"Your new form suits your personality admirably," Sivir said, her control on her anger rapidly fraying no matter her intentions. "Did you want the outside to match the in?" 

"If that's the best you've got for me, perhaps your wits have grown dull amongst all that sand." Cassiopeia settled lazily back into her cushions, the torchlight catching on the heavy gold about her wrists and the sharpened edges of her claws. It was a threat - a blatant one. 

Sivir shifted, resettling her weight and wondering how quickly she could reach her crossblade. She wasn't afraid of Cassiopeia, of course, or of the Noxian soldiers edging their way through the vast corridors beyond them. She was simply done with whatever head games the woman wished to play.

She'd been done for years.

"I've half a mind to take my artefacts back." Sivir threw her words out like a challenge, and she sure as hell wasn't bluffing. 

For months, she'd really thought all those high-value contracts had been from a Demacian with a hard-on for Shurima's relics. It had been months of back-breaking work, endless forays into the desert, but some serious gold in her pocket. Now, all that effort went down the drain. If she'd even _suspected_ Cassiopeia's involvement, she would never have accepted the contract at all. 

Sivir had been well and truly suckered in by Cassiopeia once - for it to happen a second time? It was nothing short of shaming. She should have seen the damn signs. 

"I don't want _your_ money, Du Couteau." Sivir's lip curled, her gaze hardening as she weighed her options. 

Cassiopeia watched her just as carefully, though the expression seemed more indulgent than anything. That heavy, green-scaled tail shifted just slightly - Sivir's hand twitched toward her crossblade before she heard Cassiopeia laugh. 

"I'd call your stubbornness admirable, if it wasn't so breathtakingly false. We both know how weak at the knees you get at gold - you care about little else." Cassiopeia leaned her cheek on her palm, her gaze seeming to cut straight through Sivir's body. There was just a hint of a glow behind those green, slit-pupil eyes. 

Sivir couldn't quite suppress the chill that ran down her spine - never in all the years they'd known one another had Cassiopeia looked so overtly... predatory. 

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, and still she had not moved to take her leave. Embers of anger stirred in her chest again - what exactly was she waiting for?

"Oh _Sivir_." Cassiopeia's voice was mocking, the curve of her lips one of feigned delight. "You never do change."

"Enough," Sivir snapped, her anger growing hot and harsh. She longed to make Cassiopeia bleed, to reverse the roles and see how _she_ liked it... but she was no fool. It was not the time or the place for an unexpected battle with a lamia. With Cassiopeia's hired thugs creeping ever closer, Sivir had to concede that a quick and peaceful departure was necessary, if galling. 

She could take the money this time, too. She'd already expended the effort and the coin getting that ridiculous-looking totem to the jungle villa meeting point. Moral high ground could go screw itself.

"I'll take the payment this time, but this little game of yours is done." Sivir told Cassiopeia, her voice flat and harsh in her own ears. It sounded like the threat she'd intended, but she still advanced a step to make her next point crystal clear. "You'll only waste your lackeys' lives if they get in my way."

Cassiopeia's smile widened, her lips parting just enough to bare longer fangs. Those were certainly new, but really. They seemed quite fitting for their owner's disposition, Sivir noted with a curling lip. 

"But of course. You know I would never dream of barring your path," Cassiopeia replied with a familiar tilt to her head, familiar in a way that made Sivir's hackles stir. It was a calculating, damn _lie_ , and they both knew it. 

Blatant lies had hardly stopped Cassiopeia before - quite the contrary. Spinning a ridiculous lie so well that even known truths became questionable had been one of the many skills the woman had employed in Noxian politics, and it angered Sivir that she would dare try it after all they'd been through together. 

She watched, wordless and rigid, as Cassiopeia moved forward. Her eyes caught on the fluid sway of powerful coils across the carpets and flagstones, on the hypnotic movement of Cassiopeia's hips. The woman was a _snake_ now, no longer the perfect courtier and Marcus Du Couteau's greatest weapon. She had no right to look so comfortable in her new cursed skin, as though she'd been born that way.

Sivir reached out to take the proffered pouch of gold from Cassiopeia, scowling, determined to be done with the woman and be on her way. As her grasp closed over the silken bag, the pads of Cassiopeia's fingertips trailed, teasingly, over the back of Sivir's knuckles. 

Sivir did not flinch at the touch - she had far too much control for that, and far too much anger. The way Cassiopeia's fingertip swept the back of her hand was still nothing short of electrifying after all the years they'd spent apart. Sivir looked up from the coins, meeting Cassiopeia's eyes. There was a hint of an alien glow behind those blue eyes, a reminder of the fearsome power her new form gave. 

It was a threat, and for all the languid sensuality of the touch, Cassiopeia's eyes were cold. 

There was nothing left to be gained from lingering. Her payment secured at her belt, Sivir turned her back on Cassiopeia, heading for the doors she'd smashed her way through, ignorant of her employer's identity. 

"Sivir." Cassiopeia called out, the moment Sivir reached the threshold of the room. There was an undercurrent of tension in her voice - the only hint that this meeting had not gone her way at all. "You know how this ends."

Sivir's teeth bared in a snarl, and she tossed a contemptuous look over her shoulder. "There's no knife between my ribs this time. It's a novel experience."

She didn't look back again.

###

_The party had already stretched on for the full afternoon. Night had long since fallen, hours had dragged on, and still there seemed to be no end in sight. Sivir had hardly done anything to merit such torture - or such commendations. She'd been dragged along to the obnoxious, pompous affair for one reason alone. Her newest contract was meant to address some sort of concern that Noxus' military had grown complacent and stale. Really, based on what she'd observed over the past few days, it was hardly an unfair assessment. Whatever the case really was, it hardly eased Sivir's resentment at being paraded about Noxian high society like some sort of exotic relic._

_It was a waste of Sivir's time - even freshly signed and younger than most of the recruits she was training, she knew that. With a curled lip and an easy shrug, she'd cast aside most of the advice she'd received about this farce. She didn't give a damn which families she talked to or who she might be offending. After all, what was life without a little risk to make things interesting?_

_The free wine and food - a **banquet** , the starving raider child in her frankly couldn't believe the excess - was probably the only redeeming part of the night. Hovering at the edge of the ballroom, bored out of her mind and itching to find some pretext to slip away, Sivir took another long draught of the wine she'd scooped up on her latest circuit of the room. She'd already lost count of how many goblets she'd drained that evening - the Noxian variety didn't hit her nearly as hard as the opuntia back home, but she was still starting to feel a little... buzzed._

_"My, my."_

_Sivir turned sharply at the voice from just behind her, her gaze falling upon a woman as she slowly approached. The woman moved without hurry, elegance and confidence emanating from every step in a way most could only dream. Her dress was flowing - at this point Sivir had to assume such was the latest Noxian trend - the fabric clinging to her body in ways that compulsively drew the gaze._

_With an effort, Sivir's gaze flickered up to the woman's face. Her hair was auburn and loosely curled, and the smile she wore might have been charming, if only it had met those cool green eyes._

_"I was wondering when we'd finally cross paths," the woman continued, as if she'd not noticed Sivir's stare at all. "Are you done offending every Noxian socialite in the room, or are you merely waiting for your second wind?"_

_Sivir shrugged, though she had to say she liked the amused lilt to the woman's voice. It made for a nice contrast with the calculating venom of practically every other Noxian she'd encountered at the function thus far. That said, she was far from fooled that this woman would be any different from all the others. Noxians had a poor reputation for a reason._

_"If they have a problem, they can try their luck," Sivir told the woman. Even though she was without her crossblade, she knew she could best whoever threw down a gauntlet. She could take all of them, should the need arise._

_The woman tilted her head just slightly, the movement drawing Sivir's attention to the graceful, pale column of her throat as she asked, "Do you truly believe them so helpless?"_

_Sivir looked down as a flash of gold caught her eye, and she cursed her inattention. Like most Noxian high society, the woman was wearing ornate weaponry openly. Golden claws adorned the fingers of each of her hands, impressive, brilliant-coloured gems set against the backs of her hands. They caught the lamplight, and Sivir had to admit that even back home, those would have been quite sought after._

_Sivir wondered, then, if the woman still knew how to use them, or if they were nothing more than a fashion accessory now._

_The woman didn't appear concerned that Sivir had ignored her question in favour of her golden claws. Her body shifted slightly, her green eyes narrowing as she leaned forward._

_"They do say you're good, Sivir." The woman practically purred it, her lips lingering on every syllable of Sivir's name almost indecently._

_"I am." The longer they talked, the more Sivir was beginning to understand exactly who she was talking to, just by the way she spoke, the way she moved. After all, Katarina Du Couteau had already given Sivir more than enough headaches over the week, so it was easy to take a guess. "I'm so good that I think I could give your sister a few lessons on proper knife technique."_

_Cassiopeia Du Couteau **laughed** , and Sivir wondered if her delight was genuine. Perhaps it was - Noxians were a strange lot. _

_"Please give me advance warning when you decide to inform her. I rather think it'll be quite the... confrontation." Cassiopeia spoke the words delicately enough that it implied all the violence that would result._

_Sivir grinned at the remark, and it was the first time she'd really felt it all evening. "Don't be so sure. Katarina wouldn't be able to catch me even if I had all the gold in Shurima as a price on my head."_

_"Ah, but you forget. The blood of a kill is more than enough for my sister." Cassiopeia tapped her lips with the tip of one of her golden claws, and her green gaze travelled up Sivir's body, lingering and open. "Not all traps must involve violence, and I suspect you can be snared using... other means."_

_Sivir flushed hot, and it was impossible to misinterpret what Cassiopeia was implying. She'd been propositioned enough times that evening by numerous courtiers that the suggestion didn't surprise her, but there was something about the way Cassiopeia talked, moved, and devoted her full attention to Sivir that..._

_A shiver ran down her spine. She liked it._

_"I might," Sivir admitted, her smile widening as she toyed with the idea, wondering how serious Cassiopeia was. "Gold does tend to catch my attention."_

_Sivir was far from idiotic enough to believe that Cassiopeia had approached her innocently, either. It wasn't about attraction or love or anything like that, but getting Du Couteau claws deep into Noxus' most promising mercenary-recruit._

_For a mercenary more concerned with her contract and her pay than pleasures of the flesh, Sivir found that it made things... simple. She watched Cassiopeia reach out a lazy hand, meeting those calculating green eyes without hesitation, allowing the other woman to run the edge of one of those golden claws across the curve of her jaw. The ghost of a touch left goosebumps in its wake, and Sivir's breath had admittedly shortened._

_"Perhaps a beautiful woman, then?" Cassiopeia asked with a smile, a twisted note of amusement in her voice._

_"Not familiar with humility, huh?" Sivir countered with a smirk, pleased when Cassiopeia only returned it with a quirked eyebrow._

_"Why would I ever need something like that?"_

_Sivir's heart was pounding rapid and loud against her ribcage, not much different from a girl on her first raid - she hoped to the old gods that **none** of it showed. She'd had more than enough experience to take Cassiopeia up on her offer. _

_Boldly, she leaned in, so close that she could feel Cassiopeia's breath on her lips, smell the rose-scented oil on her skin. She pressed her own mouth against Cassiopeia's, lightly but just **enough**. The paint on Cassiopeia's lips clung to her skin, the sensation and the languid, practiced movement of Cassiopeia's lips sending Sivir reeling. Sivir pulled back, her breath shamefully short and a slow grin beginning on her lips. _

_She was interested in far more than that, and from the lidded, hot gaze Cassiopeia is favouring her with, the feeling was mutual._

_Slipping away from the function in the presence of Cassiopeia Du Couteau proved infinitely more successful than Sivir's attempts to leave alone. The woman had merely nodded to the military officials stationed by the door, laying a hand on the shoulder of one and murmuring something Sivir couldn't catch to the other, and then finally - finally - they were free._

_Their walk through the High Command hallways both whirled by and dragged on. Sivir's attention was entirely snared by the harsh rasp of golden claws against her wrist, the pleasant warmth of Cassiopeia's bare palm on her skin leaving her mouth dry and her blood pounding._

_She didn't even shuffle restlessly as Cassiopeia stopped by one of the guest rooms, unable to tear her gaze away from the tumble of auburn hair down the woman's back, the play of light across those golden claws as the door was painstakingly unlocked._

_Cassiopeia shot her a look over her shoulder, her eyebrow arched, a smile curling the corner of those painted lips - Sivir frowned, wondering if she'd unknowingly whined. She certainly felt like whining - she also felt like Cassiopeia was deliberately taking her time._

_"Your eagerness is cute," Cassiopeia said with a low laugh. Finally she turned, pushing the door open smoothly, but not moving. Only waiting._

_It was all part of the game with Cassiopeia, Sivir realised then. It was far more than the simple ploys most Noxian nobles indulged in - for Cassiopeia, it influenced her every word, her every action. And curse her, it made Sivir feel alive with the prospect of a real challenge._

_"Don't underestimate me," Sivir breathed, leaning forward, but refusing to give Cassiopeia the satisfaction of provoking a first move. Gods, she wanted nothing more, though._

_"Of course not," Cassiopeia replied, and her lips brushed Sivir's own, light and teasing. Through dark lashes, cunning green eyes met Sivir's own. "I'd never allow that."_

###

Sivir knew she should not have left that meeting without having made her point _violently_ clear to Cassiopeia. There was only herself to blame for such softness. She should have known better, that Cassiopeia would never, ever leave well enough alone. No matter how much distance Sivir put between them, no matter how she vetted her contracts and requests...

Now that Sivir was paying attention, looking for the signs, she could see Cassiopeia's hand in all of them. It was provocation, pure and simple, inundating her with a volume of jobs in some sort of ploy to drag Sivir back into that web of lies. Scroll after scroll, contract after contract -

Sivir tossed herself back in her chair, silently seething at the woman's audacity. She stared down at the heavy parchment unfolded on her desk, at the flowing, unfamiliar handwriting that was not Cassiopeia's but reeked of her influence regardless. Without further thought, she scrunched the paper up before letting it join its fellows in a pile in the corner. 

_Clearly,_ Sivir noted with a curling lip, _Whatever Cassiopeia wanted, she has not gotten._

The thought stirred a prickle of unease in her stomach - she well knew that failure was something Cassiopeia had never tolerated. 

While the game was expected, it was no less maddening. Sivir was sick of it, of Cassiopeia and whatever entitlement she thought she had over Sivir's soul, that she believed she had a _right_ to just invade Sivir's space in such a pervasive way. 

For a good few years, Sivir hadn't needed to worry. On one had, of course Cassiopeia had thought her attempts at cold-blooded murder successful, but on the other, the woman had been very much absent from the tumultuous Noxian political scene in recent years. 

At first, Sivir had entertained the vague hope that Cassiopeia might have finally pissed off the wrong faction, but a few drinks with Draven had revealed some interesting developments. Cassiopeia Du Couteau, terror of the Noxian courts with a body to kill and a mind to flay, had lost _everything_. 

With the knowledge that Cassiopeia had sequestered herself in her family mansion - shame or fits of violent, murderous rage, Draven hadn't been able to decide which of the rumours were true - perhaps Sivir had grown sloppy. She'd grown _complacent_. She hadn't expected Cassiopeia's return, and she sure as hell hadn't expected the woman to be interfering with her business partners. 

Sivir turned her gaze back to the pile of unanswered contracts in the corner of the room, her lips bared in a snarl of outrage. But why would Cassiopeia bother with Sivir's business in relics and artefacts? Ancient Shurima had never held the woman's interest, not when she'd claimed that the here and now was so much more interesting. 

_Far more easily manipulated,_ Sivir clarified, sour. 

It would not be gleeful manipulation for it's own sake, no matter how much they'd come to loathe one another. That was something Sivir could be sure of. Whatever Cassiopeia wanted, there had to be a reason, but what... Well, that had always been the question to ask.

Cassiopeia was a far different beast than her sister. She was smarter, she knew how to prey on weakness, and Sivir had never met anyone better at what _she_ did. She was as deadly opponent as any of the Noxian assassins sent Sivir's way.

Unlike all those assassins, Cassiopeia didn't quite want Sivir dead yet. That was the overwhelming sense Sivir got from the woman's ongoing interference in her contracts; the way the woman had simply let her leave. There was far more to this situation than Sivir could comprehend. Unfortunately, the only way to really find out what Cassiopeia wanted was to play into the jaws of the snake herself. 

Sivir shifted in her chair, staring over her shoulder at where the latest contract had come to rest on the floor. 

Perhaps it was worth... playing along with Cassiopeia's games. Just for a while. Just to find out what was going on. With Cassiopeia, being forewarned was being forearmed, and as Sivir bent to fish up the crumpled contract between her thumb and forefinger, she tried not to remember hot breath in her ear and the cold burn of a knife beneath her ribs. 

Sivir's lip curled as she began to slowly straighten out the parchment on the flat surface of her desk. Prepared and wary, she was confident she could more than handle Cassiopeia this time.

###

_Sivir lingered at the edge of the party, scarcely listening to Darius' grumblings about having his time frittered away by Darkwill on such foolishness, that they had a war to prepare for. She remembered thinking much the same, back when she'd first started selling her skills to Noxus. Functions were boring, but she'd long since found definite benefits._

_What could Sivir say - Cassiopeia could put on a show._

_Somewhere between their third and fourth meeting, Cassiopeia seemed to have come to some sort of... assessment regarding Sivir. There were no further overt attempts to extract further secrets regarding her upbringing and training, no ties with barbarians, Demacians or Ionians to assess. Of course there was needling and digging, blatant manipulation and testing lies, but..._

_No longer was Sivir simply another target. Their liaisons had become less a means to an end, and more something to be enjoyed._

_Really, Sivir found Cassiopeia's games incredibly entertaining now that she wasn't bearing the brunt of it. The woman simply delighted in intrigue; it always reminded Sivir how Riven came alive with a sword in her hand, Draven's showboating, or Katarina's relish of bloodshed. Though their battlefields were worlds apart, Cassiopeia's was no less Noxian, and while Sivir wanted no hand in all the schemes, she could not help but watch in awe._

_The quicksilver smiles, the languid movements calculated to catch the eye, a tongue as sharp as any blade and a mind even sharper beyond it - even from a distance, the whole display of pure confidence and competence set Sivir's libido on fire._

_She was only a damn human, and Cassiopeia's charms could work on practically anyone with a pulse._

_Sivir was not attending the function with Cassiopeia, of course. She was on a job, and Sivir knew better than to allow other Noxian courtiers to identify the long-standing arrangement that had sprung up between them. Cassiopeia would have never allowed the suggestion of steadiness to ruin her perfectly cultivated image as a seductress, and that suited Sivir just fine._

_However, with that in mind and no matter how she loved watching the show unfold, Sivir only occasionally allowed her gaze to linger on Cassiopeia, to listen for her laughter or try to catch the suggestion of her voice. Just as expected, Cassiopeia all but ignored Sivir's presence at the function, her focus on her mission almost unerring._

_Almost. Every so often, when Sivir's back was turned, during a lull in the hum of conversation or when the musicians struck up a song, she would feel Cassiopeia's' gaze on her, so intense it was practically a caress. Every time, Sivir's pulse would begin to pound, rapid and hot. She'd forget what dry commentary she was sharing with Noxus' latest poster girl Riven, her mind grinding to a shuddering halt for the instant or so Cassiopeia's gaze was on her._

_Really, Sivir had developed a good feel for whether Cassiopeia would welcome her or not, and she knew she was acting the fool. Cassiopeia was on a job, and nothing risked -_

_Of course, that was when the very woman so determinedly on a job just brushed her way past Sivir, warm and leisurely. The achingly familiar scent of her perfume suddenly clouded every one of Sivir's senses, and it was all she could do not to turn, to stare after Cassiopeia as she continued on through the throngs._

_The touch had been far from accidental, teasing and testing Sivir, a reminder that reacting was off-limits but fishing for it all the same. The game sent chills across Sivir's skin and hot desire through her stomach, and it was only after she'd taken a long, deliberate swallow of wine that she dared look around._

_Cassiopeia was on the arm of an older-looking Noxian nobleman, leaning into him with a feigned ease. He was her mark, Sivir understood, just from the way Cassiopeia smiled at him. The man looked a little overwhelmed - Sivir doubted that glass of wine in his hands had been close to empty all evening._

_**Gods,** Sivir thought, taking another draught of her own. **She truly is a monster at this.**_

_Of course, Sivir knew better than to hold out hope for some fun this evening. She always knew better, and yet she stayed. She remained at the function long after most had slipped away - Cassiopeia and her nobleman included. While she was far from jealous of a mark, she did feel a twinge of regret. Perhaps she should have used the function to find herself someone willing to have a little fun, but it was no use lingering on lost chances._

_Sivir rubbed a hand across her face, weary from the night's excesses and a little fuzzy from all the wine and decided to be done with it. She had no need to show up at the training grounds to wreak merry horror on the newer recruits - Riven had agreed to take that session, the overly-Noxian idiot probably considered leading drills with a hangover as training._

_It was only when she'd slipped into her room that she finally paused, the hair stirring on the back of her neck sending her rigid and reaching for the knife in her belt. It was only the slightest hint of perfume on the air that led her to relax. She quietly pushed the door shut behind her, barring it, a smirk on her lips and wondering where in the darkness Cassiopeia had hidden herself._

_The room was silent but for the sound of Sivir's heartbeat pounding in her ears, and no matter how she strained, she didn't know where Cassiopeia was until warm arms were sliding about her hips. Her breath caught at Cassiopeia's touch - cold metal claws on one hand, just warm flesh for the other - at how the woman's fingertips lingered, bruising and hot against the bare skin of her abdomen and thighs, lightning sensation trailing in the wake of her hands._

_Sivir groaned. It was too **much**. Willing to allow Cassiopeia the satisfaction of her eagerness, Sivir rounded on the woman. Before Cassiopeia could slide away, Sivir tangled her fingers in the folds of a dress that had tortured her imagination for hours. She pulled Cassiopeia close with it, finding those sly lips in the darkness and kissing them until she was practically lost in the taste and scent of it. _

_Sivir needed more - she was certain she'd go insane if Cassiopeia withdrew now and left her wanting. She could feel Cassiopeia's smirk against the side of her throat - the woman knew exactly what she'd done all evening, what she'd wrought. Of course it pleased her._

_"You spent quite a lot of time with Riven tonight," Cassiopeia murmured then, her bare hand sliding up to tangle in the hair at the back of Sivir's neck, the tips of her fingers rubbing out patterns in the sensitive skin that nearly shorted-out thought processes entirely._

_"Feeling a little territorial, Cassiopeia?" Sivir managed, disentangling herself from Cassiopeia's arms and fumbling her way to the bed. In a moment, she had the bedside lamp lit, bathing the room in a warm yellow glow. "You know I don't belong to you."_

_"Trust me," Cassiopeia retorted, and now that Sivir could see her, there was a telltale splash of blood on her cheek. Her full lips were curved in a smile that reeked of smug victory, and she closed the distance between them in easy, deliberate steps. "She'd bore you, and you'd just come crawling back anyway."_

_Cassiopeia sounded so insufferably certain of that claim that Sivir had to rise to kiss her, if only to snatch that self-satisfied smirk from her lips. She brushed her tongue along Cassiopeia's lower lip, cupping her face and pulling her up and off balance, just to feel the woman's breath shorten in the kiss. The woman was frowning slightly when Sivir withdrew, irritated._

_Sivir smirked. Cassiopeia could feign control all she liked - since their arrangement had become more personal, she'd been quite open and demanding in what she enjoyed. Sivir's height and strength was just one of many._

_She turned back to the bed, loosening buckles and stripping free of her clothing in a business-like manner, mindful of Cassiopeia's gaze on her skin._

_"Figured you'd be with your mark," Sivir said mildly, rolling her shoulder to test the stiffness that had built up in it._

_Behind her, Cassiopeia laughed sharply, openly disdainful._

_"Oh yes. That's done." The woman's voice lowered an octave toward the end, drawing Sivir's attention unerringly. When had she slipped free of that dress? But she still wore one set of golden claws, Sivir noted with a dry mouth._

_She watched Cassiopeia lean forward, and she couldn't help but allow her eyelids to flutter closed as those cool metal claws rested against her cheek, trailed down to the point of her chin. If she'd thought Cassiopeia's touch had been electric before..._

_"Lucky you - I never do like to mix business and pleasure," Cassiopeia continued, and there was a twist of amusement in her tone now._

_Sivir smirked, unable to resist baiting Cassiopeia. "That **is** your business."_

_"I do think the subtleties might be lost on you," Cassiopeia replied with a huff, her hands finding Sivir's shoulders. Sivir didn't resist, allowing the woman to push her back, down onto the bed. "Don't make me reconsider."_

_"Nobody can make **you** do anything -" Sivir's breath hitched as Cassiopeia straddled her, her hips arching back, hot and slick against Sivir's thigh. _

_Sivir leaned forward, tangling her fingers in Cassiopeia's curling dark hair as the woman moved down her body. Her hold wasn't gentle but it was far from violent - the sort of touch Cassiopeia responded to when not on business. She shifted, pressing her fingertips of her free hand into the dip of Cassiopeia's shoulders, satisfied with the small sounds the pressure elicited._

_"You're just lucky my mark tonight was so easy I could cry," Cassiopeia murmured. Sivir shivered as the woman's warm tongue trailed across the underside of her breast, the point of a cold claw tracking counter down her ribs. "I found the perfect weakness, and he cracked with barely any pressure at all. Disappointing."_

_"So that's all I am to you?" Sivir asked, unable to help a low chuckle at the undercurrent of frustration in Cassiopeia's voice. "Your games got you all hot and bothered so -"_

_Sivir cut off with a snarled curse as Cassiopeia's hands seized her hips, but it trailed off into a breathy groan as the woman's damn tongue pressed hard and hot against her. She shuddered, her fingers tightening in that dark head of hair._

_"Keep talking," Cassiopeia said, her tongue moving, **curling** in a way that set every last one of Sivir's nerves on fire. _

_"Shit," Sivir forced out between clenched teeth, a prickle of sweat starting up on her skin and oh gods Cassiopeia could not be serious with that demand. "Cass -"_

_"What were you saying?"_

_Sivir peeled an eyelid open as the long, languid movement of Cassiopeia's tongue stopped. She forced her fingers, still curled in Cassiopeia's hair, to relax their hold, but gods it felt like she was going to go mad at the mere sensation of that damn woman's breath against her core. Sivir swallowed convulsively, looking down to meet those merciless green eyes._

_Cassiopeia was smirking. Sivir exhaled sharply. Of course she was._

_"Your latest mark left you - high and dry - when - Cass that's - **when he cracked too fast.** " Sivir forced the words out in a rush toward the end, panting and gods the hot, wet press of Cassipeia's tongue was nothing short of amazing. _

_Cassiopeia merely hummed against her - Sivir snarled a curse at the sensation, her entire body trembling._

_"Close. He wasn't exactly interested in women, you see."_

_"How - how unfortunate for him." Sivir forced a grin, threading her fingers through Cassiopeia's curled, auburn hair. "I'm more than happy to - gods you are such a **tease** \- take up the slack."_

_"Yes. It really is such a hardship for you." Those claw on Cassiopeia's right hand - gods, when had she started wearing them to bed - dug into the sweet spot at Sivir's hip. The bite of cool metal against her skin practically made her see stars._

_Cassiopeia continued to string her out, of course, as if she hadn't done enough of that during the function. Sivir loved every moment of it, her every muscle growing impossibly, feverishly tight until finally she came with a broken oath. She fell back to the mattress, feeling entirely boneless for the moment, her eyelids closed and allowing Cassiopeia to trail that tongue up to the blade of her hip._

_She remembered how slick Cassiopeia had been before. After that show of power, the woman would be practically dying for it now. Without a word, Sivir grasped Cassiopeia's bicep, pulling the woman up and rolling them over in a single, smooth movement. She eased her thigh between Cassiopeia's, sinking her weight against the woman's hips fully and pressing their lips together, hungry and open._

_The look Cassiopeia gave Sivir when she pulled away was one of pure need, and for a moment, Sivir could only stare. Those golden claws tracked down her cheek, lingering on her lower lip. It was only when Cassiopeia leaned up to kiss her again and Sivir tasted blood on her tongue, felt a sharp sting, that she even realised she'd been cut._

_She groaned into the kiss, her back arching beneath the cold trail of the claws, the scent of Cassiopeia's perfume and arousal, the taste of wine, sex and blood on Cassiopeia's lips -_

_Cassiopeia drew away to nip at Sivir's earlobe, voice hot against her ear. "My, my. It's tempting to just have you again, if you're going to moan like that."_

_Sivir took hold of the woman's smooth shoulder, tracing patterns on the skin with her fingertips and pushing her back into the bed._

_"Fair is fair," she murmured against Cassiopeia's throat, sliding her fingers against that slick hair and leaning into the touch of that golden gauntlet._

_"Fair is never fair, Sivir." Cassiopeia's voice had grown hoarse then, and her thighs locked tight about Sivir's hips as she shuddered beneath the touch. "You'd be a fool to forget it."_

###

The contract Sivir had selected was much the same as all the others Cassiopeia had shoved at her. Vaguely worded, references to an obscure era of Shuriman history. Some drivel about sky serpents, rebirth and betrayal - frankly Sivir's eyes had started glazing over at that point, and she'd skipped to the end. 

The artefacts were similar to the ones Sivir had already unknowing gathered for her previously unknown employer. They were listed in neat handwriting at the end of the scroll, their descriptions based on rumours and mythology more than concrete history. 

In other words, Sivir had been provided with more than enough information to track down the items Cassiopeia sought. Most of the time she'd worked with _less_ , so she supposed at least her ex-lover was thorough. Then again, with Cassiopeia, what more could she expect? 

Sivir's first point of reference was always the library beneath Amentheses, the largest collection of relics, preserved books and information - or at least what had survived the cataclysm all those centuries before. The caretakers of the library had eventually become accustomed to Sivir and her odd requests, ignoring her crossblade and scars in favour of a winning smile and a pouch of gold tossed their way. 

It ensured their cooperation - and their silence. 

Sivir spent the better part of a week combing the shelves in search of descriptions of the artefact, hints of a location it might have been stored in before the whole empire had gone up in smoke. Directions of the sun, known landmarks, anything that would make her search less of a fool's errand for Cassiopeia's personal enjoyment and more a success. 

Cassiopeia had not included details on the properties the artefact supposedly exhibited, but again, that was not unusual in Sivir's line of work. It was somewhat of a business guarantee that had ensured she had contracts lined up everywhere from the Freljord to Ionia. So long as she didn't ask any of the awkward, morally responsible questions, she was adequately recompensed for it. 

And really, it was not her problem whatever her buyers did with their artefacts afterwards. All she cared about was the gold. 

Sivir jotted down another set of notes on her map - the position of the constellations noted in the dusty tome open in front of her - before leaning back. Cassiopeia would have called such a policy a terminal failing of curiosity, and perhaps if she'd been in the library alongside Sivir, she might have deliberately looked into things out of spite. 

Then again, that had been the role the woman had filled for Noxus with fervour, so perhaps that would have been expected. 

Sivir looked back to the tome, wondering if she could wring any further details from the flowery ancient Shuriman dialect, or if it was better to just move on. She had more than enough to start narrowing her search - apparently the item was west, out beyond the floating pyramids and the major archeological digs.

Perhaps, Sivir thought, closing the book gently, she _should_ look into the artefact's properties, business policies be damned. Cassiopeia would only ever be trouble. It was only Sivir's deep suspicion that the item - always associated with snakes - might have something to do with breaking the curse, that she let it go. 

Even in the silence of the library, with a million other ideas competing for attention, Sivir's thoughts always managed to turn back to Cassiopeia. The woman weighed more and more heavily on her mind, turning even idle thought into her own weapon. Maybe that had been what Cassiopeia had wanted, in letting Sivir know her identity, for in a way it was _power_. 

Sivir had learned a healthy appreciation of such things during her time in Noxus, and Cassiopeia had been a master. 

_Occupying thoughts as a form of power, though..._ Sivir sighed silently, finally tossing her quill down to pinch the bridge of her nose. _Only Cassiopeia would ever succeed in something so absurd._


End file.
